On Thursday I saw Man of La Mancha at the Rep, an excellent show that I hope you can see but it reminded me of something. Theater is great. I took Theater 101 last semester and I had a blast but it also reminded me of how great the stage is. Now I'm not an actor or anything but I do love plays, musicals, you name it. So here are ten reasons to take Theater.

1. The professors are cool

Whether at Carroll or any university, theater professors are some of the wackiest, smartest, most interesting people you'll meet. They're underappreciated but always energized to help you out with their experiences and knowledge.

2. Musicals

Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, and many more are reasons that make theater exciting and when seen live are simply spectacular.

3. On stage

Standing up on stage is pretty scary, especially on your own. The practice on stage makes it easier for presentations, speeches, and it can improve your social skills. I think that's really important because you have to stand on your own sometimes and present yourself to an audience.

4. Acting!

Acting is pretty interesting. I'm more of a writer but acting is such an interesting skill that I think many people would like to learn. If that interests you there is really only one way to go.

5. Read great plays

In English class, I loved reading books because they were always great. I was happy that they chose those books because they were really good and it's difficult to find good things to read. That rule applies to theater.

6. Ins and outs of Theater

For my Theater 101 final I wrote a three-minute play. We learned about the behind the scenes stuff whether you're interested in directing, writing, tech work, etc. you will learn about it and you'll have fun.

7. Fulfill that liberal arts requirement

Yeah, schlub through that Theater 101 class for your Gen Ed credit if you want.

8. You'll enjoy the Tony Awards

Maybe you'll like them more... or actually want to turn on the TV to watch them in the first place.

9. It's something new

I know the whole liberal arts thing seems like a joke but I don't think it is. The electives you take can actually teach you something. Theater can teach you a lot about perspective, history, what happens behind the scenes, acting, writing, and more about the human condition as seen through the medium of stagecraft.

10. It gives you a new perspective

Lastly, it was a new experience for me and I learned a lot. The classes you learn the most in are the ones you never really thought about. Because of this, I was blown away by how much fun theater is and with my senior year starting I'm going to try to take in as much as I can. I hope if some of you are interested you look into it and take a class or otherwise simply appreciate theater with me.